Days after an armed gunman went to Washington, D.C’s Comet Ping-Pong pizzeria in a self-described attempt to investigate the false “pizzagate” conspiracy, radio host Alex Jones attempted to distance himself from the story, which he and his website Infowars have promoted -- while also adding more to the strange theory.

Jones, who runs the website Infowars, has played a key role in popularizing the erroneous notion that the pizzeria is a child-trafficking hub. The Washington Postreported, "On the far-right site Infowars, talk-show host Alex Jones repeatedly suggested that Clinton was involved in a child sex ring and that her campaign chairman, John Podesta, indulged in satanic rituals." Vox noted that Jones “is more responsible than any other single person for the spread of “Pizzagate” — the totally false theory that DC pizza joint Comet Ping Pong is a front for a child sex ring involving Hillary and Bill Clinton.”

But on his December 7 show, Jones distanced himself from the allegations. He claimed that the multiplenewsoutlets that highlighted his role in the story were telling a “lie” and defended his own comments by suggesting he was simply sharing the information, noting that “everybody else covered it too.” But the coverage of the conspiracy percolated between Jones’ Infowars and online forums like Reddit and 4Chan.

Yet despite his attempt at creating distance between himself and the armed shooter, Jones then baselessly speculated that there were “questionable events” surrounding the incident and that “witnesses say no shots fired but the news says there is and it’s an admitted actor.” He described the incident as “classic scripting” and compared it to “fake events” and “fake videos for the campaign with Hillary” with “actors in ‘em.”

A pizzeria in Brooklyn has also begun to receive death threats over the "pizzagate" conspiracy. Police say a worker who answered the phone at Roberta's pizzeria was told "you are going to bleed and be tortured," and other callers have asked if the restaurant is connected to the fictitious child sex ring promoted by Jones and others.

Echoing the real-world consequences of the "pizzagate" conspiracy, a Florida woman has been indicted for allegedly making threats against the parents of a 6-year-old who was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in the 2012 mass shooting. CBS Miami reports that the FBI said the woman, Lucy Richards, "believed the event didn’t happen, … which motivated her to make a series of death threats against the victim." While there is currently no evidence that Richards was inspired by Jones, Jones has repeatedly used his platform to push Sandy Hook conspiracy theories.

On the same episode of his program, Jones also claimed he has been unfairly accused of saying the Sandy Hook school shooting was a faked event and said, “I said that’s what people have said.” But as he did with the pizzeria story, Jones then pushed more conspiracy elements. He accused CNN anchor Anderson Cooper of being affiliated with the CIA and said he “got caught in a blue/green screen with his nose disappearing” while reporting on the shooting. Without evidence, Jones said, “They got caught doing fake satellite interviews.”

Alex Jones has claimed the government perpetrated the 9/11 attacks and the tragedies in Columbine, Oklahoma City, Sandy Hook, and at the Boston Marathon, along with pushing other unsupported conspiracy theories. Throughout the past year he has partnered with Donald Trump to bolster his candidacy. The president-elect has frequently echoed Jones' theories and rhetoric, and he appeared on Jones’ program to praise his "amazing" reputation.

From the December 7 edition of Genesis Communications Networks’ The Alex Jones Show:

But see how they lie, they go, “Alex Jones created a whole fiction and a lie about Podesta and sex and satanism and blamed some pizza place called Comet Ping-Pong and said some weird hallucination about pizza.”

We covered WikiLeaks that had a code about pizzas in New York that’s in the FBI files, said I don’t know what that is but they say it’s this -- it could also be about drugs, it should be investigated. Everybody else covered it too. But that doesn’t matter.

Then they use linguistics and words to go, oh, there’s a pizza place listed here, somebody mentioned it on Reddit, let’s say it’s all about this one pizza place to only limit it to that one area, put all the focus there, make them victims, have some very questionable events where witnesses say no shots fired but the news says there is and it’s an admitted actor. Who’s been in trouble with the law. I mean, the whole thing is classic scripting. I’m not saying it’s scripted -- it has all the telltale signs, they’ve been caught doing it before, they did all those fake videos for the campaign with Hillary. With fake actors in ‘em. This is what they do.

They always say I said nobody died at Sandy Hook and the whole thing’s fake. I said that’s what people have said. All I know is, Anderson Cooper – CIA – got caught in a blue-slash-green screen with his nose disappearing. They got caught doing fake satellite interviews, where one’s in New York, one’s in Connecticut, and it’s the same cars driving behind ‘em. That’s how dumb they think you are. I don’t know how fake it is, but you’re a pack of known liars.

A New York Timesprofile of incoming Trump chief counselor Stephen Bannon is headlined “Combative, Populist Steve Bannon Found His Man In Donald Trump,” but the most noteworthy bit of information about Bannon is not referenced in the headline.

Bannon served as CEO of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and led Breitbart.com before leaving to join Trump. As Media Matters and others have reported, under Bannon’s leadership, Breitbart became a haven for the white nationalist “alt-right” movement.

The Times reports in the piece that one of Bannon’s former colleagues said he “occasionally talked about the genetic superiority of some people and once mused about the desirability of limiting the vote to property owners.” The colleague said he told Bannon that such a law would exclude a lot of African-American voters, and he said Bannon responded, "Maybe that’s not such a bad thing.” (The piece also quotes the former colleague in question saying, “Steve’s not a racist … he’s using the alt-right -- using them for power.”)

This revelation is made in the second half of the piece, and the headline gives no indication that it is in the story.

The story also discusses Bannon’s history of racially divisive advocacy at Breitbart, as well as that site’s anti-Muslim stance during his time managing its editorial tone and posture. The Times notes, “Breitbart.com’s scorn for Muslims, immigrants and black activists drew a fervent following on the alt-right, an extremist fringe of message boards and online magazines popular with white supremacists, and after Mr. Bannon took control of the website in 2012, he built a raucous coalition of the discontented.”

Despite the information contained in the story, the headline considerably downplays the subject’s controversial past and present in favor of a generic description.

President-elect Donald Trump’s falseclaim that he “won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally” can be traced to conspiracy theorist and Trump ally Alex Jones. But multiple media reports on Trump’s falsehood failed to report the connection, which is only the latest in a growing list of conspiracy theories espoused by both Jones and the president-elect.

Trump made his claim in response to ongoing vote counting showing former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton amassing a popular vote lead of over 2 million votes.

Trump’s lie echoes a story from Infowars, the conspiracy-laden website run by Jones. Jones has promoted numerous outlandish conspiracies, including the allegation that the American government was behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the Oklahoma City bombing, and that the Sandy Hook school massacre was a “false flag” event involving actors and green screens.

An Infowars story headlined “Report: Three Million Votes In Presidential Election Cast By Illegal Aliens,” which cites a tweet from “Greg Phillips of the VoteFraud.org organization,” is the basis of Trump’s fraudulent allegation.

Phillips, without providing any evidence for his claim, wroteon Twitter, “We have verified more than three million votes cast by non-citizens.”

Infowars’ Paul Joseph Watson then published an article on Phillips’ tweet that baselessly claimed, “Virtually all of the votes cast by 3 million illegal immigrants are likely to have been for Hillary Clinton, meaning Trump might have won the popular vote when this number is taken into account.” As The Washington Post explained, Infowars was vital in bringing the conspiracy theory to a wider audience -- the Jones-led website's story on Phillips’ tweet was linked near the top of the Drudge Report on November 14.

In a YouTube video entitled “Proof Donald Trump Won The Popular Vote” released following the Infowars report, Jones himself claimed “it is uncontrovertible (sic) fact that three million illegals voted” in the election and “tens of millions of people were on the voter rolls who were dead and at least four million of them voted as well,” and concluded, “Donald J. Trump didn’t just win the Electoral College in a landslide, he also clearly won the popular vote.”

In covering Trump’s allegation (and often uncritically echoing it), multiple media outlets failed to make the connection between Trump and Jones and the other conspiracy theorists pushing this baseless story.

The New York Timesacknowledged that Trump’s claim was “baseless” but did not make the connection between the president-elect and conspiracy sites or Jones.

The L.A. Times pointed out there is “no evidence” to back up Trump’s claim, but did not point out the false story’s origins.

NBC News omitted references to Infowars and Alex Jones in their report on Trump’s remarks.

Trump adopting a conspiracy from Jones and Infowars is not out of the ordinary. The relationship between the politician and the conspiracy theorist has flourished for months.

Trump appeared on Jones’ radio/internet show in December of 2015 and praised him for his “amazing” reputation. Trump’s informal adviser, Republican dirty trickster Roger Stone, has been a regular contributor to Jones’ radio program for months and the two have made joint appearances at pro-Trump events.

Throughout the campaign, Trump echoed Jones’ conspiratorial rhetoric as Jones said he was in contact directly with Trump, giving him advice.

In an October speech attacking “global financial powers” while using anti-Semitic tropes and dog whistles, Trump was parroting an argument that Jones has used for years.

After Jones said Trump should begin complaining the election was “rigged,” Trump began making similar complaints on the campaign trail.

When Trump alleged that President Obama was “the founder of ISIS,” he was echoing Jones, whose website once wrote that “the Obama administration has been backing ISIS since the beginning.”

After Trump delivered his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, Jones saw so much of his rhetoric included that he bragged on his radio show that Trump was “totally synced” with him and his conspiratorial world view. Following Trump’s victory, Jones claimed that Trump called him to “thank” Jones’ audience and promised to appear on his show in the near future.

This latest outburst shows that the two men remain in sync, and it’s time for the media to let the public know who is pulling the next president’s strings.

The New York Timeshighlights the case of Comet Ping Pong, a pizzeria based in Washington, D.C., that was the subject of several fake news stories online.

These stories falsely alleged that the restaurant was a hub for child trafficking after Comet was mentioned in the hacked emails from Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta that were released by WikiLeaks.

As the Times reports, “The articles appeared on Facebook and on websites such as The New Nationalist and The Vigilant Citizen, with one headline blaring: ‘Pizzagate: How 4Chan Uncovered the Sick World of Washington’s Occult Elite.’”

As a result, the owner of the restaurant and the staff started receiving a torrent of threats via social media, including one message that said, “I will kill you personally.”

After Media Matters launched a petition asking Facebook to take action to address the rampant problem of fake news circulated via its service, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has publicly committed to working on the problem at the social media giant.

Fake news online has been at the center of a furious debate for the past few weeks over how it may have influenced voters in the presidential election. President Obama warned last week that we are “in an age where there’s so much active misinformation and it’s packaged very well” on social media sites. The criticism has buffeted web companies such as Google and Facebook, whose chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, has promised to work on technology tools to slow the gusher of false digital information.

But Mr. [James] Alefantis’s experience shows it is not just politicians and internet companies that are grappling with the fake news fallout. He, his staff and friends have become a new kind of private citizen bull’s-eye for the purveyors of false articles and their believers.

For more than two weeks, they have struggled to deal with the abusive social media comments and to protect photos of their own children, which were used in the false articles as evidence that the pizza restaurant was running a pedophilia ring. One person even visited Comet Ping Pong to investigate the allegations for himself.

Conservative radio host Laura Ingraham is reportedly under “serious consideration” to be White House press secretary in the upcoming Donald Trump White House.

In an appearance on Fox News, where she is also a contributor, Ingraham said she is “honored” to be among the contenders for the position. She added, “I'm at the point where, if my country needs me, and if I can do something to actually, you know, advance the Trump agenda, which is stuff I have written about now for 15 years, with trade, immigration and just renewing America, then I obviously have to seriously consider that.”

Throughout her career in conservative media, Ingraham has repeatedly used her platform to attack ethnic minorities (especially Latinos), civil rights organizations, and progressive leaders in a crude and often racist fashion. Here are 17 of her worst moments:

Ingraham: Minority Voters Picked Obama “Because He Was … Half-Black.” Ingraham said, “There are a lot of minorities who just voted for him because he was, you know, half-black, and that was a historical milestone.”

Ingraham Suggested Deported Immigrants Attempting To Re-Enter The Country Should Be Shot. Discussing undocumented immigrants potentially being deported after being released from prison, Ingraham said, “[Governor Jerry] Brown is releasing all these criminals, because they're spending too much money in the jails. By the way, the jails are what, 27 percent illegal immigrants? Why don't we ship them back home and say you come again, and you'll be shot crossing the border? Why don't we ship them out of this country, why are we paying for these horrific individuals? They do their time, get out of the country, never coming back. Never coming back. You come back, you'll be shot. I'm sorry, this is now -- so now you have a ten day waiting period? Well, you better hope nothing happens in ten days, I guess. That's a long wait, I thought four minutes was long, now you have ten days to wait.”

Ingraham Played Audio Of A Gunshot While Discussing The March On Washington And Civil Rights Leaders. While discussing the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and remarks from civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), Ingraham played audio of a gunshot.

Ingraham: NAACP Is “A Push Organization For Racist Sentiments.” Ingraham said the NAACP, one of the oldest civil rights organizations in America, “has become a push organization for racist sentiments in many ways.”

Ingraham Compared Same-Sex Marriage To Incest And Polygamy. Ingraham compared the legal right to same-sex marriage to state-sanctioned incest and polygamy.

Ingraham Said People Should Wear Diapers Instead Of Sharing Bathrooms With Transgender People. Discussing how people will react to transgender people being allowed to use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity, Ingraham said, “I think a lot of people are going to be walking around with just Depends on from now on. They're just not going to use the bathroom. Adult diapers, diapers for everybody. No one's going to be going to the bathroom. You have little kids, there's going to be no bathrooms. We're just going to all wear Depends. Everyone will just be happy. Then you'll be in your own bathroom. Everyone's bathroom is just their own clothes, OK? So this is what we're going to go to.”

Ingraham Played “Yo Quiero Taco Bell” Sound Clip To Mock Migrant Children Fleeing Violence. While discussing the plight of migrant children fleeing violence in Central America, Ingraham played a sound clip from a Taco Bell commercial and said, “I bet there are a lot of American kids who would like free food before they go to bed at night.”

Ingraham: U.S. Should Accept Only Those Refugees Who “We Can Verifiably Say Are Christians,” And Muslims Should “Stay In The Middle East.” Discussing the Syrian refugee crisis, Ingraham said, “The Christians who we can verifiably say are Christians, who are in the threat of being slaughtered, I'm happy to bring in some of them. I think most people would. But all these other people, they've got to stay in the Middle East. We cannot be the warehouse of all these, you know, Muslim people coming from these far-flung lands.”

Ingraham: “I Don’t Think Of Jewish People As Minorities Because They’re So Successful.”Ingraham said that she didn’t view Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) as a minority because he is Jewish.

Ingraham: Registering Voters Is “The Politics Of Division.” Ingraham described efforts to register voters in Ferguson, MO, as “the politics of division.”

Ingraham Mocked A Protester For Speaking Accented English. Ingraham complained that she couldn’t understand a protester’s accent, noting, “Wait, what did she say at the end? I can't -- I need a translator. I speak Spanish too. I'd rather have her just speak Spanish, at least I'd understand that.” Ingraham then went on to mock her accent.

Ingraham: “A Very Compelling Case Could Be Made That [The Women’s Movement] Has Set Women Back.” Ingraham argued, “I think a very compelling case could be made that this has set women back. The most powerful thing a woman can do is give birth, that is it. That is your power, really your power. And you can do a lot of things in your life, but that's what makes you unique, and now it becomes just kind of commodified in today's society.“

Ingraham Called Spanish-Language Media Outlets “Toxic,” Said They “Revile The American Experience.” Ingraham described Spanish-language media outlets Univision and Telemundo as “toxic.” She also said, “These are Hispanic-centric networks that I think in many ways, and we've talked about this before, revile the American experience, and I think even encourage the understanding that we're living on stolen land.”

Ingraham Said Multilingualism In Schools Makes “You Think You’re In A Foreign Country.” Discussing dual immersion classes, Ingraham said, “The money this all costs is staggering. And, hence, I think that a lot of people are noticing this, have noticed it. People speaking broken language who work at various retail establishments. Language is terrible. They can't understand you, and you can't understand them. Sometimes you think you're in a foreign country.”

Ingraham Called Planned Parenthood Employees “Heinous, Hitlerian Freaks.” Ingraham was one of many in the conservative media to attack Planned Parenthood after a series of deceptively edited videos were released targeting the organization.

Mainstream and conservative media figures are echoing House Speaker Paul Ryan’s assertion that President-elect Donald Trump has “earned a mandate” with his electoral victory. But Trump appears to have lost the popular vote, and he is the first presidential candidate to win the office without winning a majority of the votes since 2000.

Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson will host a new show in the 7 p.m. time slot on Fox News after the election, replacing On The Record. The original host of On The Record, Greta Van Susteren, left in the wake of the resignation of Fox News founder Roger Ailes, after he was accused of sexually harassing multiple women. Both in print and on air, Carlson has regularly promoted a conservative brand of commentary laced with misogyny, misinformation, and factually inaccurate attacks.

He is the current co-host of Fox & Friends on the weekend. He previously hosted programs at CNN, MSNBC, and PBS. While at Fox, Carlson has also made severalguestappearances on the radio show of conspiracy theorist and 9/11 truther movement leader Alex Jones.

Carlson On Hillary Clinton: There's “Something About Her That Feels Castrating.” Carlson said there was “just something” about Hillary Clinton that “feels castrating, overbearing, and scary.”

Carlson: When Hillary Clinton “Comes On Television, I Involuntarily Cross My Legs.” Carlson said that whenever Hillary Clinton “comes on television, I involuntarily cross my legs.” He also said, “She scares me. I cross my legs every time she talks.”

Carlson: Reporting Statutory Rape Is “Whiny.” Carlson described a student who had reported statutory rape by a teacher as “whiny.”

Carlson On Whether “All Legal Immigration” Should Be Stopped: “Absolutely.” Carlson responded “absolutely” when questioned about whether “all legal immigration” should be stopped.

Carlson: “Real Poor People Don’t Eat Out Of Dumpsters.” Carlson said that “real poor people don’t eat out of dumpsters” and that those who do have no “dignity.”

Carlson: Atheism Leads To “Killing A Ton Of People.” Carlson said that not believing in a power higher than the government would lead to “killing a ton of people.”

Carlson Called For Increasing The Stigma Of Some Mental Health Conditions. After the mass shooting at the Washington Navy Yard, Carlson argued that “we need to increase the stigma” of some mental health conditions.

Carlson Dismissed Critical Coverage Of Trump’s Pro-Assault Comments: “Nobody Is Actually Shocked By This.” Discussing the audio of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump saying of women, “Grab them by the pussy,” Carlson said, “Nobody is actually shocked by this and everyone is pretending to be.” He added that the media is manufacturing outrage over the remarks.

Carlson Accused Obama Of Pushing “Nazi” Racial Politics, Promoted Gun Confiscation Conspiracy. Carlson told conspiracy theorist Alex Jones that President Obama was engaging in “Nazi stuff” by using ethnic politics. He also promoted the conspiracy theory that Obama wants to confiscate all firearms and put people “in jail for even having them.”

Carlson: NAACP Is “An Absurd Fringe Group” That Is “Bankrupt Literally And Morally.” Carlson described the NAACP, a leading civil rights organization, as “an absurd fringe group” that is “bankrupt literally and morally.”

Carlson: Plans For Mosque In Lower Manhattan Were “Forc[ing] The Families Of Victims Of 9/11 To Have To Relive This All.” Carlson said that the proposal to build a mosque in lower Manhattan (the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque”) was “forc[ing] the families of victims of 9/11 to have to relive this all.”

Carlson: Gender Neutral Bathrooms Are “Disgusting.” Carlson said having gender neutral bathrooms at the 2016 Democratic National Convention was “disgusting.”

Carlson Lied, Said Obama Has Called Police Racists “Again And Again.” Carlson falsely claimed that President Obama has called police racists “again and again” and he said that the president created an environment where police being attacked “is absolutely inevitable.”

Carlson: Transgender Equality Is A “Solution In Search Of A Problem.” Carlson said attempts to secure transgender equality were “a solution in search of a problem,” and that Democrats were “on another planet” due to “obsessions over transgender bathrooms.” Carlson also argued that extending Title IX protections to transgender people is “frivolous,” adding, “Are there millions or thousands or even hundreds of transgender students facing discrimination in schools? No.”

Writing at The Daily Beast, Wayne Barrett takes note of the pipeline between conservative FBI agents (both active and retired) and Fox News. Figures like former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a former federal prosecutor and current Donald Trump surrogate, as well as James Kallstrom, the former head of the New York City FBI office, have appeared on the network and used its air to amplify the grievances of these agents.

Barrett reports that Kallstrom has “been on an anti-Comey romp for months, most often on Fox, where he’s called the Clintons as a ‘crime family.’” Appearing on The Kelly File, Kallstrom claimed that agents involved in the Clinton investigation were “P.O.’d” that President Obama said the Clinton emails weren’t a national security issue and compared the statement to “someone driving another nail in the coffin of the criminal justice system.”

After FBI Director James Comey cleared Clinton of wrongdoing in the email investigation, Kallstrom made more appearances on Fox News and alleged that agents “both on the job and off the job” were “worried about the reputation of the agency they love.” Kallstrom again used Fox as a platform for his views, endorsing Trump on Stuart Varney’s Fox Business show, describing Clinton as a “pathological liar.”

Kallstrom responded to Comey’s letter to congressional leaders telling them that the agency would be reviewing newly discovered emails with yet another Fox appearance.

Kallstrom’s victory tour this weekend also included an appearance on Fox with former Westchester District Attorney Jeanine Pirro, another close associate of Pataki’s, who complained on air that she’d been the victim in 2006 when word emerged that the U.S attorney and FBI were probing her in the midst of a race she eventually lost to Andrew Cuomo to become New York Attorney General.

Her concern about the political impact of law enforcement leaks, though, didn’t extend to Democrat Hillary Clinton. “He couldn’t hold on to this any longer,” Kallstrom said of Comey. “Who knows, maybe the locals would’ve done it,” he added, a reference to leaks that elicited glee from Pirro, who echoed: “New York City, that’s my thing!”

[…]

He declined to explain why Megyn Kelly stated as a fact that he was in contact with agents “involved” in the case. Asked in a follow up email if he suggested or encouraged any particular actions in his exchanges with active agents, Kallstrom replied: “No.”

“Now, I’m supporting Comey,” Kallstrom told me on the phone, adding that he can’t do or say anything else before election day. “He can’t characterize” what the bureau has from the Weiner emails. “The FBI can’t say anything without having all the information,” Kallstrom contends, just after telling me he supports the FBI director who’s under fire for having done just that.

[..]

It’s clear enough, though, why when Comey sent a note to FBI staff on Friday explaining his decision to inform Congress about the renewed Clinton probe, the scoop about that internal memo went to Fox News. Why Kallstrom gets booked to talked about the Clintons a “crime family.” Why Clinton Cash author Peter Schweitzer, caught in a web of Breitbart and Trump conflicts, would announce on Fox that he was asked in August to sit down with New York office FBI agents investigating the Clinton Foundation (with The New York Times reporting this week that the agents were relying largely on his discredited work when they pitched a fullscale probe).

Fox is the pipeline for the fifth column inside the bureau, a battalion that says it’s doing God’s work, chasing justice against those who are obstructing it, while, in fact, it’s doing GOP work, even on the eve of a presidential election.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) claimed that a letter from FBI Director James Comey indicated that the FBI had “reopened” its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of state, triggering a media firestorm. But Comey’s letter says no such thing, and according to CBS News, it’s “premature” and “going too far” to say the investigation has been “reopened.”

This afternoon, Comey released a letter to congressional leaders stating, “In connection with an unrelated case, the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation” and “I agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation.” Comey noted that he was not sure how long the review will take and the FBI “cannot yet assess whether or not this material may be significant.”

In other words, all the FBI has announced is that they have found new emails that “appear” related to their investigation and may contain classified information and they are looking at them, but as of yet they don’t even know if the emails are significant.

Rep. Chaffetz, who serves as the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, announced “case reopened” around the time Comey’s letter became public:

FBI Dir just informed me, "The FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation." Case reopened

Chaffetz’s spin doesn’t come as a surprise. In an interview with The Washington Post this week, he announced plans to launch years of investigations in the event Clinton is elected president, telling the paper in an interview, “Even before we get to Day One, we’ve got two years’ worth of material already lined up. She has four years of history at the State Department, and it ain’t good.”

Chaffetz’s spin has triggered an avalanche of breathless coverage. Many news outlets quickly reported that the FBI had “reopened” their investigation, including Politico, Fox News, NPR, USA Today, among others. All three cable news networks have covered the story non-stop since it broke, often adopting the “re-opening” framing and suggesting the news is a major election bombshell. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump himself subsequently echoed that language, adding that Clinton’s actions were “worse than Watergate.”

But despite the coverage that echoed Rep. Chaffetz’s characterization of Comey’s letter, CBS Justice/Homeland Security correspondent Jeff Pegues reported that sources told him that it was both “premature” and “going too far” to declare that the investigation had been reopened. (While Pegues delivered his report, CBS on-screen text declared “Clinton Investigation Reopened.”

On MSNBC Live, NBC Justice Department correspondent Pete Williams reported that Comey’s July announcement that there would be no charges in the case effectively concluded the case but there are remaining “evidentiary matters” to be resolved before it can be considered fully closed.

But Williams noted that if the review is pertaining to the amount of classified emails sent, it would not change the earlier determination that a chargeable offense had not occurred. Williams also reported that “senior officials” have told him that it doesn’t appear that the Clintons, the Clinton campaign or the State Department had failed to hand over emails to the FBI and that the agency had found them some other way.

With less than two weeks until Election Day, conservative media figures have started pushing the idea of impeaching Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the event she wins the presidency. Citing her decision to use a private email server during her time as secretary of state, they say she “should be impeached” and argue congressional Republicans should leave the option on the table as they investigate her.

Their message echoes some congressional Republicans, including Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-AL), who said, “If all the things we've seen are true and they come out the way I think they will, then we should impeach her,” and Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL), who said, “With respect to Hillary Clinton, she will be a unique president if she is elected by the public next November, because the day she’s sworn in is the day that she’s subject to impeachment because she has committed high crimes and misdemeanors.”

FBI Director James Comey, at the conclusion of the FBI probe into Clinton’s emails, said the agency had determined that “no charges are appropriate in this case.”

Conservative Media Call For Clinton Impeachment

Radio Host Rush Limbaugh: Clinton “Is The Most Prepared To Be Impeached In Advance Of Any Presidential Candidate This Country Has Ever Had.” On the October 5 edition of his radio show, Rush Limbaugh argued that “Hillary Clinton is the most prepared to be impeached in advance of any presidential candidate this country has ever had! Hillary Clinton will be elected to be impeached,” adding, “By the way, I'm not being glib. If elected, Hillary Clinton could be impeached based on what we already know, and there's plenty more yet to be discovered. Emails and other documents that could be used in impeachment proceedings are waiting to be found like Easter eggs laid out for 3-year-olds.” [RushLimbaugh.com, 10/5/16]

National Review’s Andrew McCarthy: “Mrs. Clinton Should Be Impeached.”National Review’s Andrew McCarthy, who has spent years arguing for President Obama’s impeachment, wrote that “Mrs. Clinton should be impeached” for “mishandling classified information and withholding government records.” [National Review, 8/23/16]

Judicial Watch President: “Impeachment” Of Clinton “Is Something That’s Relevant.” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton told NBC News that if Clinton is elected, “You’re going to still have a clamor for a serious criminal investigation of Mrs. Clinton’s conduct with respect to her emails and the [Clinton] Foundation” and “I know this generation of Republican leaders is loath to exercise these tools, but impeachment is something that’s relevant.” NBC noted Fitton has “criticized GOP lawmakers for failing to pre-emptively impeach Clinton,” and quoted him saying, “They see [the oversight process] as an opportunity in some measure to keep their opponents off-kilter, but they don’t want to do the substantive and principled work to truly hold corrupt politicians, or the administration, or anyone accountable.” [NBCNews.com, 10/26/16]

Radio Host Steve Deace: “Republicans Should Promise They’ll Impeach Hillary.” Iowa-based radio host Steve Deace said that in order “to hold on to their congressional majorities, Republicans should promise voters they’ll impeach Hillary by 2018.” [Twitter, 10/17/16]

Radio Host Mark Levin: Clinton “Must Be Impeached For High Crimes And Misdemeanors.” Radio host Mark Levin alleged that Clinton “has attempted to cover-up and obstruct her Espionage Act violations in hopes of winning this election” so she “must be prosecuted, but she won't be; if elected, however, she must be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors in what is and will be continuing revelations about her criminality.” [Facebook, 10/22/16]

Right-wing media outlets are parroting the attacks of an anti-LGBTQ hate group on Connecticut’s openly gay comptroller, Kevin Lembo. Lembo recently sent the American Family Association (AFA) a letter asking the group to submit written documentation certifying it complies with the nondiscrimination regulations governing the Connecticut State Employee Campaign for Charitable Giving (CSEC), which allows Connecticut State employees to contribute to qualifying non-profit charities through payroll deductions. Lembo’s office has since been “flooded” with emails and phone calls from AFA supporters.